Having a baby in KL
 

My wife and I are currently considering a 2 year work transfer to Kuala Lumpur. We have one daughter who is one year old and are currently trying for a second. We are trying to find information on having a baby in KL so we are clear on the situation before we move.

We should have health insurance provided by my company but it excludes pregnancy related benefits, and from searching the Internet it appears most policies available in Malaysia do.

What are the costs involved in having a baby in KL if we don't have insurance coverage, or what insurers should we speak to to either arrange coverage through work or directly by ourselves? From what I've read private hospital delivery fees can be ~MYR5,000. If this is the case then it's cheaper than having a baby privately in Australia anyway!

Re: Having a baby in KL
 

Bumping this message for any advice please.

Re: Having a baby in KL
 

Hiya, no personal experience of having a baby here, but it sounds like you've already done some research on costs. If you want to contact some KL hospitals directly for more info you could try Pantai, Glenegales or Prince Court hospitals, these are the main ones. Obs tend to work out of clinics based within hospitals here so its convininent when you need to have scans and bloods done.

For insurance, I cannt help on policies which cover pregnancy, but I would be fairly certain that pregnancy would not be covered within the first 12 months of holding the policy similar to Australia.

In general, you will find healthcare much more affordable here than in Australia. I think paying privately here would be doable for a birth whereas in Australia, without insurance, you'd probably need to take out a loan!

Good luck

Ajw

Re: Having a baby in KL
 

Sime Darby Medical Centre (SDMC) in Subang Jay is a good hospital to look at.

http://www.simedarbyhealthcare.com/c...mc-subang-jaya

Re: Having a baby in KL
 

Anyone on a temporary visa in Australia is required to take out medical insurance, hence your fees would be paid. The rest of us are covered by Medicare and that takes care of all our medical needs/ deliveries. I have just had our triplets on Medibank private and the service was outstanding... I wouldnt even contemplate going private otherwise as you say prohibitive costs lol.. It is dentistry that you need to take a loan out on:D

Re: Having a baby in KL
 

Yep, I understand how it all works in Aus. My point was that paying for delivery in a private hospital here is achievable and therefore lack of insurance coverage shouldn't be too much of a concern.

Re: Having a baby in KL
 

[QUOTE=ajw;10322976]Yep, I understand how it all works in Aus. My point was that paying for delivery in a private hospital here is achievable and therefore lack of insurance coverage shouldn't be too much of a concern.[/QUOTE.....

Re: Having a baby in KL
 

i'd recommend hopping over to singapore to have it delivered before coming back, its a bit more consistent although kl is fine for a broken leg, tooth decay, etc, something as serious as delivering a baby should be given every chance of success

Re: Having a baby in KL
 

Really? I know loads of expat ladies who have given birth here and who have been more than happy with the experience overall. But maybe you've had a different experience?

Suggest you visit a few different obs here to get a feel for how they work and ethos in relation to the kind of birth experience you are after (eg. gentle, vbac, etc).

The IBU organisation is a good resource for all things baby and child related and may be able to help with dr recommendations.

Re: Having a baby in KL
 

No, its fine, its just a bit safer in my experience, but that was 15 years ago, things might have changed, but Malaysia seemed to have deteriorated slightly over the changes of several administrations over the last decade, someone has yet to step up as a revolutionary leader for the obsolete cabinets

but i do tend to take things on a more polyyannish basis, don't listen to my wafflings, everything is still ok if you do not compare it to what it used to be, actually to be honest, pretty much everywhere seems to be deteriorating somewhat

Re: Having a baby in KL
 

Well you obviously spend a lot of time in Singapore and have been immersed in the propaganda. We used to get sucked into all that too when we lived there. Now we know better. :)

Was down in Sing last week and stopped watching the tv and reading the paper after Day 1. Unbelievable.

Re: Having a baby in KL
 

WoW!!!!!

You are the master of ambiguity by proxy.

If you have got a political axe to grind just state it.

I doubt this is the forum to actually garner political (or otherwise) opinion, I for one am definitely not interested in any form of polititcs.

Do you actually mean 'pollyannaish'??? Because if you do that does not really reflect the message you are trying to project.

My wife gave birth to a healthy boy in 2008 in Penang & we have nothing but the highest praise for all the medical staff that were involved in the birth of our wonderful little boy.

Apart from that I have been unfortunate enough to have been in 2 separate accidents that required major medical treatment & in both cases I received 1st class care in Malaysia.

Shame on you for trying to portray the medical services of Malaysia in such a poor light.

Re: Having a baby in KL
 

Please remind me never to break my leg in Singapore, or even heaven forbid, suffer the complete indignity of ever having to comprehend the social pariah status that tooth decay may impede on my social standing in your beloved Singapoor.....

Sorry, but I actually like Singapore. So why are you doing a fantastic job at degenerating the place..... It makes no sense???

Re: Having a baby in KL
 

ok, good to hear, i had 2 medical incidences with the malaysian medical community at different locations over the last few months, the first was me having a simple fever condition made out to sound as if i had a genetically engineered mutant virus, 5 separate tests had to be done at rm 200 per test, then i had the inkling that maybe i'm being done for being the only patient in that clinic for a while, so i went to a mate's gp and told him i was recommended by so n so, n it was only rm 50 for consultation n supplies

anyway, maybe i'm wrong, but singapore seems less likely to pull a stunt like this even in this degenerate age ;)

no i'm not bashing singapore at all, in fact, singapore has done relatively well comparatively to malaysia, don't forget they were both from the tunku's regime, and they were both identical only 40 or so years ago, 1957 to be exact, so credit has to be given when it is due, but again, this is all just my opinion, i do not mean it as the be all and end all guide to malaysia's political history

Re: Having a baby in KL
 

Bumping this thread for various reasons! :D

Does anyone have any specific experience with giving birth at Prince Court medical centre that they can share? We've yet to go in there but it seems from the outside that its the top place to go. Gleneagles looks a bit shabby from the outside.

Re: Having a baby in KL
 

Hi

No specific experience but, in KL, Prince court is new-ish, and reputed amongst the locals to be a swanky, almost hotel stay look and feel etc. Prices are therefore pricier than smaller private hospitals or older

For other options, try googling some good gynaes in equivalent 'price range +brand' of private hospitals,
Ie I think the below ones could be seen as direct competitors to the Prince court, gleneagles ampang etc)

Eg
Pantai Hospital, Bangsar
http://www.pantai.com.my/pantai-hospital-kuala-lumpur/

Damansara Specialist Hospital (under KPJ group), Damansara
- website seems to be a bit 'off' now, so will not place the link/URL here.

All the best!

Re: Having a baby in KL
 

Thanks TehTarik,

We've actually progressed a bit since my previous post. We made a visit to Prince Court to get some vaccinations for our first daughter; good first impressions and paedatrician was very good. Overall facilities are as we expected from what we had previosuly heard.

We've already seen an OB now for the new pregnancy and have checked with our insurance coverage that PCMC is OK, which it is, so we've all but locked it in.

Now just another 6 months to go! :)

Re: Having a baby in KL
 

Keep us all posted on here Nakrob as it may be useful for others in the future in the same situation.

Hope it all goes well :thumbup:

Re: Having a baby in KL
 

Hello, a couple of friends have had their babies at Prince Court and they were very happy with it. If I were to 'go there' again, it would definitely be my first choice, even though I live next door to Pantai Hospital (half of which is under contruction which doesnt finish till 3am each morning - not exactly restful, the other half is tired and run down).

Re: Having a baby in KL
 

good for you , Nakrob! All the best

Generally, dont think one should decide or get others swayed based on external looks of the hospitals, as it is more important the quality of the doctors, service, cleanliness etc.
Eg I can speak 'for' Pantai Bangsar /KL which has good gynaes and friends,others have said has good paed docs. Have not been hospitalised there yet, but so far few visits there for check ups, outpatient etc - good impressions so far about facilities there, compared to some other hospitals

Back to topic....For others looking for Check ups/specialist cases prior to delivery, a good Non-hospital specialist is FMGC (Fetal Medicine & Gynaecology Centre) in Petaling Jaya
http://www.fmgc.com.my/contact.php

Re: Having a baby in KL
 

Some people might enjoy a few 'luxuries' while in hospital to give birth, I know I did. General consensus of Pantai from my own experience and that of friends who have been admitted there? Mostly good doctors, nursing care below average, often difficult to make your needs understood. One friend had an appalling experience there with an ob/gyn which escalated into a life threatening situation which required emergency surgery post birth. The rooms are basic, more on a level with Western govt hospitals than a private hospital. When I was admitted, my bed had paper sheets and there were no towels given in the bathrooms - the expectation was that you'd dry off with toilet paper. Thankfully I was only in there for one night and didnt need to use the shower because it looked grim. :thumbdown: I imagine it all depends on your expectaitons..

Re: Having a baby in KL
 

Oh dear, doesn't sound good then! :(

Must have deteriorated or the service differs between units, nurses etc. I had a 1/2 day-ward experience there which was good and nurses,docs were professional. Some frends have said good things about their delivery and stay experiences there. Quite Awhile ago, I visited a friend who delivered and stayed in their Suites(?) and it looked quite nice, no complaints?

Oh well, I guess the best is of each person to individually to check out each hospital then :) 'hospital facilities and doctors window shopping' eh? :)

Re: Having a baby in KL
 

I had my baby in Gleneagles in 2006. I had a whole suite with lounge and 2 bathrooms and my own butler! Can't remember what it looked like from the outside as I was only concerned with the qualifications and experience of the doctors and nurses that operated on me ;)

The care was better than the UK and Norway, where I gave birth to my other 3 kids. My consultant was Dr Ravi.

All costs were paid for by the insurance company.

Re: Having a baby in KL
 

Erm, I dont remember making any comments in my post about how Pantai looks from the outside. Tired and rundown refers to what I've seen of its accommodation internally. As for the ongoing construction, it does not finish until 3am every day, so if you are in a room overlooking this, dont expect much sleep.

Re: Having a baby in KL
 

Erm, you didn't .... Nakrob did.

Re: Having a baby in KL
 

It was me judging the book by its cover (need to stop doing that) ...... but my comment was on Gleneagles not Pantai.

Anyway, happened to find myself in Gleneagles last week for an unrelated reason. Facilities and common areas much better than what I expected after my first roadside impressions. However, rooms did look a bit dated and not somewhere I'd personally like to convalesce.

Each to their own, but we're glad we've selected PCMC.

Re: Having a baby in KL
 

For normal delivery, most private hospitals are charging in the range of Rm5-7k.

The costs for csection would be in the range of Rm 12k -Rm15k.

However that cost does not include anything else, for example if the baby has complications or is born prematurely. Just in case that would mean having to standby Rm 30k-50k should be good.

Should anyone need a lists of private hospitals in Malaysia for emergencies, may drop me an email. Thanks

Re: Having a baby in KL
 

Hi roystevenung. Just to say Welcome to the forum from another Penang resident :)

Re: Having a baby in KL
 

Congratulations to you both!!